Sunday, June 05, 2005

...Is all I can say to describe the performance by the Twins in this weekend's series against the New York Yankees, which was capped today with a 9-3 victory. The Yankees certainly aren't the same dynasty that they have been for the past decade, as they came to the Dome off a sweep at the hands of the lowly Royals and their pitching has been terrible, but this team still has some serious bats. The Twins sent out their numbers 3, 4, and 5 pitchers, and all of them pitched terrific games. Today, Carlos Silva tossed 7 strong innings, allowing 7 hits and just 2 runs. However, the blowout score was not necessarily indicative of how the game went. The Twins were down 2-0 going into the bottom of the 6th but then exploded for 5 runs thanks to some much-needed timely hitting. Up 5-2, JC Romero came in to start the 8th. The inning began with a ground ball to Matt LeCroy which he mishandled in what can only be described as an embarrassing error (that's actually how John Gordon announced it, and he typically isn't too hard on players). LeCroy CANNOT start games in the field, I think it has become pain-stakingly obvious. Gardy has got to learn this lesson, and fast. Following the misplay, Romero hit a batter to put runners on first and second. Romero proceeded to get ripped by Hideki Matsui for an RBI single. This brought the game within 2, and put runners on first and second with the almighty A-Rod stepping in. Bye-bye JC... nice outing. Enter Jesse Crain, who has been the Twins best reliever this season without much doubt. He would promptly get three outs and work the Twins out of a tough jam. Still, going into the bottom of the 8th, you have to think the Twins didn't feel too comfortable with a 2-run lead considering their closer's past against the Yankees. Well, Mr. Nathan would not be needed, as the Twins unloaded on New York's crappy bullpen for 4 more runs, turning a tight battle into a blowout.

More thoughts tomorrow on the series as a whole and why it was so impressive, and so important, that the Twins were able to take two out of three against the Yankees.